HARBOR CITY – CIF State officials declined to intervene in the case brought on behalf of the Narbonne High girls basketball team, which has been prohibited from competing in the upcoming CIF L.A. City Section playoffs because the team was ruled to have played an ineligible athlete in 2006.

On Wednesday, parents, coaches and players learned that state officials had deemed last Thursday’s ruling by the L.A. City Section appeals panel on Morghan Medlock’s eligibility status for 2006 and the sanctions handed down were proper.

Mike Medlock, Morghan’s father, exhausted all the avenues through the appeals process of CIF, and he will have to seek a temporary injunction within two days to lift the ban in order for the Gauchos to gain an entry to the tournament. The playoff pairings will be announced this weekend.

“I am not really surprised about the ruling,” Narbonne coach Tim Barnes said. “I don’t know how much more that we can prove. I guess they have got it in their minds that they are not going to believe the evidence the Medlock family presented.”

In January, the panel ruled that Morghan had been in violation of its residency requirements and had been ineligible all four seasons. Narbonne was stripped of its 2004, 2005 and 2006 City Section crowns and had to forfeit its games during the time frame, and longtime coach James Anderson was prohibited from coaching at Narbonne for two seasons.

Last Tuesday, Mike Medlock said he provided evidence that the family owns the residence, and his daughter’s mailing, bills and drivers license list the property as her address.

Last Thursday, an L.A. City Section appeals panel ruled that Morghan, a 2006 McDonald’s All-American and current USC forward, was eligible for her first three seasons, and the ’04 and ’05 titles were re-awarded, but still said she wasn’t in her senior year.

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